Being bullied is not fun.  Just ask Lisa Gourley, owner of Simplicity Spa.  She says, “I was bullied all the way through school.  After my elementary years, I even moved to a different school and I was so excited to have a fresh start, but the very first day, one of the boys decided that it was his job to continue that abusive treatment.  I finally dropped out of high school because I just couldn’t take it and got my GED instead.”

Today looking at and hearing about Gourley, you would never know she had this rough beginning.  Since 2016 she has owned Simplicity Spa.  She shares, “I had always wanted to own a business since my early twenties.  I was working at a massage place as an esthetician but the owner was taking a huge percentage of what I made.  Even though I was scared to death about failing, when I got the opportunity to join the ranks of business ownership, I didn’t think twice.  On July 21, 2016, I opened in Sola Salon, which is on Center Ridge Road in Rocky River.  I remember lying in bed that morning and being so excited and happy!”

Last year yet another opportunity came her way and she moved to her current location on Ingersoll in Rocky River.  She completely redid her space and turned it into a very Zen-like atmosphere.  Since 2016 her business has grown by almost 300%.  Not bad for the first couple of years in business!  Stayed tuned though, as she may be enlarging her space this spring.

Single mom to two wonderful children, Gavin, who is 14 and Sophia who is 9, she is so thrilled that she can flex her schedule enough that she can be there when her kids need her.  She says, “Don’t get me wrong, I work a lot, but I make my kids my first priority.”  This summer she moved into a dated home in Lakewood that needed a lot of tender loving care.  The 88 year old owner told Lisa, “This house is calling out to you, it wants you.” True to form, she has painted every room, put in new blinds, new fans, new light fixtures, redid the bathroom and did some work on the kitchen.  “I am really proud of it now,” Gourley explains, “and when my dad originally saw it he thought I was crazy, but now he sees the beauty that I saw!”  Her private joy right now is the live-edge dining table that a friend helped her to make and they are also making a buffet table out of an old door.

In her spare time, Gourley is the person who, behind the scenes, raises money; a lot of money, for smaller grass-roots charities.  She adds, “I guess because of my rough early life, I always want to do something to make a better life for someone else.  That’s just how I’m wired.”  She is currently working on a project for Reel Recovery, a charity that teaches men who have had cancer to fly fish and hosts them during a weekend retreat at Rockwell Trout Club.

Ever thinking of her kids, she is taking them to San Diego for Christmas.  She has a friend that they will visit while out there.  She says, “I told my kids that I could either buy presents for them or we could go to California. They chose the trip.  I am so proud of them!”

From bullied to buoyant.  That would be the best way to describe this woman that never wants to let herself down by failing.  Her motto is not, “If” she is successful, but always stretching towards her next success!